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The Triad
The Triad was the most powerful collective of Upper-Level Demons. Initially appearing to be loyal to the Source of All Evil, they were the considered the leaders of the Underworld after his vanquishment. The Triad has been responsible for most of the attacks on the Charmed Ones.As claimed in various episodes of season 3. Given their large behind-the-scenes presence in events, they can be considered the series' primary antagonists. They first became known to the Charmed Ones in 2000, but were killed by Cole Turner soon after when he turned on them. They then returned five years later as the demons Asmodeus, Baliel, and Candor, who were vanquished by the Charmed Ones twice. History Early Life The Triad has always been the second highest evil in power when the Source of All Evil was alive. They worked separate from him, but did his bidding when necessary. Like the Source, they had many demons working for them who they send out to kill the Charmed Ones. The Rise of the Triad They first appear in season 3 as male demons, who have full black eyes just like the Source, Belthazor, and Sykes (the latter of whom were both among those they sent to kill the Charmed Ones). They wear long dark red-like hooded robes, with a pentagram on the back. Each of them possess many powers. When they become aware of the existence of the Charmed Ones, they begin sending Demons after them to kill them. When all of the previous demons fail, they order Belthazor, Cole Turner's demon alter ego, to go after the Charmed Ones. Belthazor comes very close in killing the sisters, but falls in love with Phoebe Halliwell, the youngest of the three known sisters at the time, which leads to him killing the Triad. Triad Cole.png|The Triad summoning Cole Triad Menmer2.png|A Triad member Triad Member.png|A Triad member Triad Member3.png|A Triad member Triad_Cole 2.png|Triad about to vanquish Cole with a fire ball Cole_Kills_Triad.png|Cole kills a Triad member by stabbing him with an athame, weakening the other Triad members. Cole_Kills_Triad2.png|Cole kills another member by twisting his neck Cole_Kills_Triad 3.png|Cole vanquishes another member through an energy ball The Return of the Triad The Triad reappear in season 8, composed of 3 upper-level demons: Asmodeus, Baliel, and Candor, forming a fitting name pattern of A-B-C. This time, they wear a black robe, with a usually upside-down pentagram on the front of it. They are responsible for kidnapping Christy Jenkins, and hiring demons to guard her and raise her for fifteen years to brainwash her into a killer. Those demons later get vanquished by Christy, her sister Billie, and the Triad, in many separate intervals. Christy_Triad.png|The Triad returns in new bodies Asmodeus.png|Asmodeus Baliel.png|Baliel Candor.png|Candor Xar A demon named Xar, a former member of The Triad, orders a demon to tell the Charmed Ones that The Triad is back, thus exposing them. Xar tricks the Halliwell sisters into going after The Triad, because he doesn't want them to take over the Underworld. The Triad became aware of this and killed Xar. Battle at Magic School The Charmed Ones go after them, and battle them at Magic School. In the battle that follows, Phoebe draws Candor away while Piper and Paige battle Asmodeus and Baliel. After Baliel throws a fire ball, Piper freezes the two and has Paige orb Asmodeus in front of the fire ball before unfreezing the scene, vanquishing Asmodeus. With Asmodeus dead, the Triad's power is weakened and Piper manages to vanquish Baliel with three blasts from her molecular combustion power and Candor is forced to flee. Candor later appears before Christy after freezing the Charmed Ones and Billie around her, as he tells her that they taught her everything she knows, and now that The Triad is weakened, she must go forward alone, to reunite with the Ultimate Power, her sister Billie. Candor then leaves, and unfreezes the others. Later on, Candor gets killed by Christy, for being responsible for the death of Christy and Billy's parents. Triad_Orbs.png|Paige orbs Asmodeus infront of Baliel while they are adjusting to Piper's Molecular Immobilization Triad_Dead.png|Piper unfreezes them and Asmodeus is vanquished by Baliel's fireball Triad_Dead2.png|Piper vanquishes Baliel with her Molecular Combustion Triad_Christy_Vanquish.png|Candor gets vanquished by Christy impaling him with her arm Return as Spirirts It is later discovered that The Triad cannot be destroyed as easily as previously thought. Very similarly to the Source, their physical bodies can be vanquished but they continue to exist in spirit form with all their powers until they are strong enough to constitute new bodies for themselves. Therefore, The Triad still exist, but as spirits, they continued to progress their plan to kill the Charmed Ones, with Dumain, who serves them. (This also confirms and explains how they are the same Triad that Cole killed in season 3 resurrected in full). Their spirits later get vanquished by the Charmed Ones, using the power of the Hollow. Final Vanquish However, Dumain went back in the past with Christy to warn the Triad of their death, though as he was warning them, The Charmed Ones and Billie arrived from the future as well, and vanquished the Triad, once and for all. They proceeded to vanquish Dumain and Billie vanquished her sister Christy. Triad_Spiritform.png|The Triad in their spirit forms Triad_Vanquished.png|The Triad in their spirit forms get vanquished by the Charmed Ones for good Book of Shadows The Triad :The Triad is a collective of powerful upper-level demons. :Virtual Emperors of the Underworld, when together, the :powers of this evil cabal increase exponentially and there :is no known method of vanquishing them. Though :unconfirmed, rumours persist of splinter groups seeking to :carry out their own agendas. TheTriad.jpg|The Triad entry TheTriad2.jpg|Alternate entry Powers and Abilities As demons of the highest level, comparable to The Source, Zankou and most powerful high level demons, they are highly resistant to most manners of attack, and all their abilities are extremely powerful, though the Charmed Ones are among the few magical beings whose attacks can actually harm and weaken the Triad. In addition to this, their power works as a collective, much like the Charmed Ones, stronger with all three alive. Weakened, they were more vunerable as shown when Piper was able to vanquish Baliel with molecular combustion after Asmodeus was vanquished when before it likely wouldn't have worked. Appearance * First Members: This Triad wore dark-red, hooded robes with a gold pentagram on the back. Their eyes were completely black, indicating their power level. Other demons such as the Source of All Evil also have black eyes. * Asmodeus, Baliel, and Candor: Unlike their previous forms, this Triad wore black robes without hoods and with an upside down pentagram on their chest. Their eyes were normal, human eyes. Notes * It's unclear if there is any sort of leadership hierarchy within the three Triad members, but if so, then the order of authority appears to go to Asmodeus first, then Candor, then Baliel. This slightly averts their naming pattern. * The Triad can have more members than the initial three, which may theoretically also serve to strengthen their collective power. Examples of this are the demon Xar having once been a Triad member and their promise that Dumain would join them when the Charmed Ones were dead. * It is most likely that the Triad was not completely loyal to the Source. Notable evidence of this is that when the Triad returned four years after the Source's death, they made no attempt to resurrect the Source. Moreover, their plot involving the Jenkins sisters had gone back fifteen years, about half of that before the Halliwell sisters even became the Charmed Ones, a possible indicator that the plan may have initially been about preparing the sisterly duo to destroy the Source. ** This all seems to have been lampshaded by the season 3 episode "The Demon Who Came in From the Cold". In it, Cole Turner/Belthazor appears before the elite demon mafia he was once a part of, the directly Source-selected Brotherhood of the Thorn, and defends his killing the Triad to the Brotherhood by claiming that they were plotting to overthrow the Source and kill every demon in his inner circle. Brotherhood member Tarkin then responds by recalling how they never trusted the Triad, and this becomes the very base by which Cole is able to talk the group into tentatively taking him back. ** A point of intrigue is that during the time Christy was under the control and care of their designated demons, the Triad were sending demons after the Charmed Ones per the Source's bidding. They likely did this to keep attention away from their plot as well as keep the Source and the Charmed Ones focused on each other in the hopes that one side would destroy the other so Billie and Christy wouldn't have to destroy them all. Since they weren't Christy's direct "caretakers", it was easily possible to do this, and if this was the case, then it did in fact work. Trivia * The most glaring continuity error in the appearances of the season 8 Triad was the pentagram on their robes not always being upside down. This is most likely the result of costume and editing oversights in production. * Asmodeus is the name of a demon from the Ars Goetia, the first section of the demonology book The Lesser Key of Solomon. Here, he is described as a King and governs seventy two legions of inferior spirits. Other names taken from this are Andras, Barbas and Shax. * Asmodeus is also present in other religions and mythologies. He is described as a King of Demons, one of the Seven Princes of Hell and a demon of Lust. * Baliel was the name of a Biblical demon. * It was revealed the name of the three triad members are Asmodeus, Baliel and Candor. It's also a coincidence that a demon who was helping of them, with hopes of becoming a triad member name was Dumain, which is all alphabetical order. Notes and References Triad, The Triad, The Triad, The Category:Magical Groups Category:Deceased Category:Evil Category:Killed/Vanquished by the Power of Three